Snowpelt
by Chocolateismylover
Summary: A young prince runs away from a horrifying marriage proposal, disguises himself in a white bear's skin, and falls in love with another prince. PruCan rated T for a mention of incest, but not in the way that you would think.


**(A/N) The plot of this is based off of both "Donkeyskin" and "All-Kinds-of-Fur" I don't own those, nor do I own Hetalia.**

Once upon a time, there lived a king named Francis who ruled the second largest country in the world (the largest, of course belonged to King Ivan in the far North). Amiable and romantic, King Francis was much loved by his people. His wife, Joan D'Arc was beautiful and virtuous. From the deep love of the king and queen, a son was born whom they named Matthew.

The palace the royal family lived in was huge and magnificent and had a zoo that was famed for its large collection of exotic animals from all over the world. But of all the creatures, great and small, the one given the place of honor was a white bear. But it should be known that the bear deserved the honor, for it had the ability to speak and could bestow the power of invisibility upon whoever grasped its fur. Peculiarly enough however, no one could ever remember the bear's name.

But it all could not last, and it came to pass that Queen Joan was struck with an illness that no one could cure. Knowing that her time had come, she called her husband to her and said, "Promise me, my dear Francis, that you will not marry again until you find someone who is as beautiful and as virtuous as myself."

In this way, she hoped that Francis would never remarry. Francis agreed to her conditions and held her in his arms as she left this world.

For a long time, Francis grieved the loss of his beloved wife and no one could console him. Finally at the urging of the court, he agreed to begin looking for a new queen. It was not easy and no matter how hard he searched, he could not find anyone who had the qualities of his late wife. The only person who fit the queen's conditions was Prince Matthew, who had grown into a sweet and lovely young man.

Seeing that Matthew was the only person who could satisfy the promise he had made to his wife, and being driven into madness by his grief and the stress to find a replacement for the love he had lost, Francis proposed marriage to the young prince, who was horrified. A father marry his own son!

Relying on his wits, Matthew told the king that he would only accept the proposal if he was given a suit the color of the sky. Certain that it was impossible, Matthew hoped to delay the king long enough to make him see reason. But he had underestimated Francis, who ordered the best tailors in his country to make the suit or else he would have them all hanged.

Within three days, the suit was made and delivered to Matthew who was amazed at its beauty, but also afraid. Hoping to delay his father longer, he asked for a suit the color of the moon. Eager to please him, Francis had a suit made within four days that had the same pale loveliness the moon is famed for.

In one last desperate attempt to put off a wedding, Matthew said he could not be convinced to marry until he had a suit as brilliant as the sun. This time, Francis ordered that a cloth of pure gold and diamonds be used to make the suit. It was completed within a week and it dazzled the eyes of all who beheld it.

Matthew was delighted by the suits, but also troubled, as he still did not want to give in to his father. Then, he had a brilliant idea. He told Francis that he wished for one last thing before he agreed to marry him: He must have the skin of the white bear that lived in the palace zoo. Certainly Francis would not kill his prize bear in order to please his son. However, Matthew had not understood the king's desire to wed, for the king had the bear killed and its skin brought to Matthew.

Realizing that there was no reasoning with his father anymore, Matthew decided to flee the palace and live in disguise until his father regained his sanity. He packed the suits, some ordinary clothes, supplies, and any other things he would need into a magical nut (given to him by his fairy godmother) that could contain anything he put into it no matter how large or small and still remain the same size. He also added to the nut a tiny glass figurine of a bird, and a bottle of the finest maple syrup.

Taking the bearskin, Matthew disguised himself in it and crept out of the palace. For many weeks he wandered throughout the land and eventually discovered that the bearskin, while not making him invisible, had made him unnoticeable, which aided him greatly on his travels. Unfortunately, when people did see him, they were so repulsed by his appearance in his bearskin that they would beat him nearly senseless and have nothing to do with him.

Bearing his pain with great patience, Matthew wandered the world, stowing away on ships and hiking through forests until he finally reached a castle. Taking pity on him, but still revolted by his ugliness, the servants of the castle put him to work sweeping away ashes in the kitchens where he would be out of sight.

Two years passed, and over time, Matthew, now known as "Snowpelt" by the servants due to the white bearskin he never took off, had grown used to his lowly life and being forgotten due to his near invisibility and hideousness. He had nearly forgotten his true origins as the son of a powerful king.

There was one thing about every day that made him happy however. The prince of the castle, Gilbert, had taken a liking to the boy in the bearskin and would talk to him almost every single day, which astonished the castle staff, who knew that Prince Gilbert was generally very rude and arrogant, and would frequently proclaim his awesomeness. Gilbert felt that the Snowpelt understood him because they both felt lonely and neglected by the world. Snowpelt in turn, thought Gilbert a wonderful man and handsome as well. Over the years, he fell deeply in love with Gilbert.

One day, Snowpelt overheard the servants talking about a three-day ball that Gilbert's father was throwing so that Gilbert could choose a bride. Snowpelt begged to be allowed to go to the ball but was laughed at and kicked away by the other servants.

Creeping away to a private room, Snowpelt took off his bearskin and washed himself before cracking open his magic nut and putting on the suit the color of the sky. He then went to the ball where everyone stopped and stared at the mysterious and handsome man in the beautiful blue suit. Gilbert was enraptured by the young man and danced with him for a few hours until the man saw the time and ran away before Gilbert could stop him.

Snowpelt ran back to the kitchens and took off the suit before donning his bearskin again and no one suspected a thing.

The next morning, Gilbert was depressed and ordered a beer from the kitchens. Snowpelt heard of this, and while no one was looking, opened his magic nut and took out the tiny glass bird and put it in the beer mug. When Gilbert drank his beer, he felt something roll against his lips. He took it out and found the glass bird, which resembled some kind of yellow chick. Calling the cook, he asked who had made the beer and he answered that Snowpelt had. Gilbert called Snowpelt, but he claimed that he didn't know anything.

That night, the night of the second ball, Snowpelt again asked to go, but was refused. He left and dressed in the suit the color of the moon before leaving for the ball. Again, everyone was amazed at the beauty of the young man. For a second time, Gilbert took his hand and only danced with him and could not get any information out of him and just like the first night, he ran away and no one knew where he had gone.

The morning after the second ball, Gilbert asked for a plate of pancakes for breakfast. Snowpelt opened his magic nut and took out the bottle of maple syrup and poured a little onto the pancakes. When Gilbert tasted the pancakes, he was amazed at how awesome they were and he called the cook who again said it was Snowpelt, who said he didn't know anything.

Finally the time arrived for the third ball and Gilbert keep his eyes on the door until the mysterious man finally appeared in a suit that shone like the sun. The two danced for what felt like an eternity. While they danced, Gilbert secretly slipped a gold ring onto the man's finger. This ring was charmed to only be able to fit the finger of the man it was given to by Gilbert. When the man fled for the third time, Gilbert watched him leave regretfully but hoped that it wasn't the end.

Snowpelt had stayed longer the third night than any of the others. When he went back to the kitchens, he didn't have enough time to take off the suit and could only throw on the bearskin over it.

As the morning dawned the next day, Gilbert asked for a bowl of soup to be brought up from the kitchens. Seeing the ring on his finger, Snowpelt took it off and put it in the soup. Gilbert found it and called the cook, who again blamed Snowpelt.

When Snowpelt went to the prince, Gilbert asked him. "Do you know anything about the ring I found in my soup?"

"I know of nothing, your Highness." Snowpelt whispered. He turned to leave, but Gilbert caught his arm.

"Snowpelt," he said. "I gave the man I danced with last night a ring that will only fit him and him alone. Please don't lie to me. I was supposed to find someone to marry at the ball and I found him and I don't want to lose him. But I'll have you know that if I could, I would marry you instead, for you are more awesome than anyone I have ever met."

At this, Snowpelt's eyes began to water with happiness and Gilbert grabbed his hand and placed the ring on his finger, which fit perfectly. Snowpelt then stood up straight and cast off his bearskin to reveal himself in the gold suit and looking as handsome as ever. He told Gilbert that his true name was Matthew and that he was a prince from a powerful land.

The two princes embraced each other and kissed, so happy were they to have found each other in love.

Preparations for the wedding were made in haste and royalty from countries all over the world came. Among their numbers was Matthew's father King Francis who had finally regained his mind and had married an Englishman. Many tears of joy were shed at the reunion and the story was told in full for all to understand.

The princes were married and they lived happily ever after.


End file.
